Happy Birthday, Mackaylan!

Mackaylan,

It seems just like yesterday that the entire family was gathered at the hospital anticipating your arrival and today you are turning 6!  Where did the time go?  I know we tell you all the time, but Mommy and Daddy love you more than words… all the way to the moon and back infinity times!  We are so proud of the little lady you are becoming.  Just this year you have been named Terrific Kid in your classroom and you have received the Character Award for the month of February… Caring.  Those two awards alone are more important than all the 100s in the grade book.  Watching you learn over the course of this year has been astounding.  You are like a little sponge and absorb everything your teacher (Mrs. Gramling) teaches you.  You are reading and writing up a storm and love to do math problems, tell time, and count money! Needless to say you are one smart cookie!  Mackaylan, you make us laugh each and everyday with your sense of humor.  Sometimes you try to be funny, but there are lots of times where you are witty and do not even realize it.  One of your favorite things to do is tell knock-knock jokes. Even when we do not laugh at the joke we end up laughing with you because you always think they are hilarious even if they don’t make any sense to us at all!  You love to color, play on the computer and/or your Leapster, and play with all of your Barbies.  You also love every minute that you can spend with your Grams (and Pop-O) and Granny (and Granddaddy.) There are times when I think you would stay with them forever, but you know we could never let that happen.  Mackaylan, you are going to be a wonderful big sister and we are positive that Lydia will think that you hung the moon. We sure do!  We love you and hope this is your best birthday yet!

Birth Day

1st Birthday

2nd Birthday

3rd Birthday

4th Birthday

5th Birthday

6th Birthday

Happy Birthday, Mac-a-doodle!

Tackle it Tuesday and More (the Wednesday edition!)….

Being the week before Lydia arrives and Spring Break, I am trying very hard to manage all of the tasks on my to-do list plus make time for plenty of fun.  Yesterday Mackaylan and I decided to stay in the house and we tackled quite a few projects which made me very happy.  Here are some of things that got accomplished:

• Mackaylan and I packed up her winter clothes, tried on spring hand-me-downs and organized everything in her closet.
• Laundry…. 3 loads. Need I say more?
• I unloaded the dishwasher and washed the remaining dishes so the sink would be empty.
• I ordered Mackaylan’s “Big Sister” present.
• Mackaylan and I made cookies, played Uno, built a block castle, caught up on last week’s American Idol, and made some jewelry.

Mickey was able to come home for lunch and that was a very nice surprise.  We enjoyed a nice lunch of potato skins and a salad.  Before he had to head back to work, I snapped this adorable shot:

Last night we spent the evening with some of our best friends- the Sparks and the Adkins.  It is always a lot of fun when our families get together.  We don’t get to do it often, but they are the type of friends that we are able to pick up right where we left off the last time we were together.  Before we left, we all gathered together and spent some time in prayer for this precious baby that will arrive in just a few days.  That part of the evening was very special to me. 

By the way, be sure to keep an eye on Alyssa’s blog for the recipe for this DELICIOUS coconut cake.  She has lots of other recipes that I know you will enjoy as well. 

Hope you are having a great week!

Two Peas in a Pod

See these two?
They are two peas in a pod!
Mackaylan becomes more and more like her daddy each and everyday.
And, yes, that is a wonderful thing!
They make me smile, my heart swell with pride, and my love tank full!
It's hard to imagine that in just a few days our second little blessing will arrive.
At times I still think this is all a dream.
From marrying the man of my dreams to anticipating the birth of our second daughter.
I am blessed!

37 Weeks!

Size of baby: Baby O weighs around 6 lbs and is about 19-20 inches long.  The doctor did tell me at my appointment last week that he thought I was “growing a big baby” because I was measuring a little ahead.  I am not sure if that is the case or not because they thought Mackaylan was going to be big and she was only 7.8 lbs.  However, I do feel like she is a lot bigger than Mackaylan.  We are both growing like crazy.  It’s amazing how much my stomach has grown in the past few weeks.

Gain/Loss: ? I'm trying to avoid the scale :) However, after looking at this picture I am beginning to think that maybe it isn’t all “just baby weight” like my friends/family keep telling me.  Oh, the joys, of pregnancy!

Maternity Clothes: Oh, yes! I can actually still wear quite a few of my pre-weight loss tops from Lane Bryant, but the pants have to be maternity.  

Gender: Girl!  Her name will be Lydia.   

Movement: Yes! She is a very active little girl, and I love it! However, I do think she may be running out of room because she doesn’t seem to be practicing her tumbling quite as much!   Her movements are more just shifting.  I guess we are both to the uncomfortable stage! She is most active in the afternoon and at night.

Sleep: Sound sleep is slowly becoming a thing of the past.  It feels like it takes forever to roll over and I am trying to sleep on my side instead of my back and that is hard for me.  I have also found that when I wake up in the middle of the night my mind starts racing and it is hard to get back to sleep.  I guess it is just my body’s way of preparing for the sleepless nights ahead, right?!

What I miss: Nothing but my ankles! My feet are and ankles are swelling BIG TIME!  Flip flops have become my best friend so I am so happy that the weather is warming up. 

Cravings: Lately I haven’t really had any cravings so to speak, but I have developed an aversion to chicken and/or white meat unless it is disguised in a casserole or fried!   

Symptoms: I have definitely been more emotional with this baby, but some will argue that has nothing to do with pregnancy! *wink*wink* 

Best moment this week: Last Sunday a few of my friends and family threw me another baby shower.  It was so much fun! We are so blessed to be surrounded by people who love us so much!   

Update/Extra information: I go back to the doctor this coming Wednesday.  I can’t believe I am already on a weekly rotation and Lydia Avanelle will be here in just a few weeks.  Now we are in the last stages of preparation and making sure everything is in order for her arrival! 

Terrific Tea Party

Today we had Mackaylan’s 6th birthday party. We decided to go ahead and do her party today just in case Lydia Avanelle decides to make her debut into the world a little early.  We let Mackaylan decide what she wanted to do for her party and she chose a Tea Party.  She also decided the agenda for the day.  She wanted to make jewelry boxes, a bracelet, play a few games, open presents and eat cake! It sounded easy enough for me so we took the idea and ran with it.

Here’s the table all set with my grandmother’s china:

This was the craft/cake and ice cream table:

Leave it to my daughter to make her own “to-do” list for the party:

A few shots of the girls:

Craft time:

Presents:

And now for the cake:

One of the items on Mackaylan’s birthday wish list was a canopy:

I found the perfect one on Ebay and it arrived yesterday!  She was ecstatic about it and asked her daddy to hang it right when he walked through the door.  Of course the prince agreed and now this princess is living happily ever after!